In the related art, an evolved packet system (EPS in short) network does not provide a circuit switching service, therefore a mobile management entity (MME in short) of the EPS network cannot support the sending of normal short messages. Normally, the EPS network provides data services such as network access downloading and uploading, while a circuit switching network provides services such as voice communication and short message. The EPS network can provide a user with a data service with a higher peak rate, therefore, users who use the data services more normally register in the EPS network. However, while enjoying the high speed data service, these users also need to receive a short message service, and in order to meet this requirement, the user registered in the EPS network may need to also register to the circuit switching network which can provide a short message service. As shown in FIG. 1, the sending process of a short message is as follows: a short message is sent from a Short Messaging Service-Service Centre (SMS-SC in short) to a Short Messaging Service-Gateway Mobile Switching Centre (SMS-GMSC in short) used for sending a short message, and the SMS-GMSC queries service node information about a terminal, that is, the address of the mobile switching centre (MSC in short) and the address of the mobile management entity (MME in short), to a home subscriber server (HSS in short), and sends the short message after obtaining the addresses, and then the mobile switching centre sends the short message to the MME, and finally, the MME sends the short message to the terminal.
Hereinafter, the network elements involved in the solution for sending a short message will be introduced simply as follows:
SMS-SC: generating content of a short message, and encapsulating same into a short message data packet according to a short message protocol.
SMS-GMSC: receiving the short message data packet sent by the SMS-SC; capable of reading the parameters in the short message data packet and checking the parameters; and querying routing information about the terminal to the HSS (here, the routing information refers to the identities of the MSC and the MME via which the short message is sent);
HSS: storing subscription information about each subscribed subscriber and service node information (such as the identity of the service node (MSC or MME) which provides service to the terminal);
MSC: a core network entity which provides services (the services include control signalling sending, short message sending, and mobility management) in the circuit switching network to the terminal;
MME: a core network entity which provides services (the services include control signalling sending, short message sending, and mobility management) in the packet switched network to the terminal;
In the above short message sending mechanisms, the terminal can receive a short message service only when the terminal is able to register in both the EPS network and the circuit switching network. This requires to deploy a circuit switching network while deploying an EPS network. However, within an area where a new network is deployed, to deploy a packet switched network and a circuit switching network simultaneously will increase the operation cost of a telecommunication operator, therefore, in order to reduce the operation cost, the operator does not deploy a co-coverage circuit switching network when deploying a new EPS network, and therefore, the user will not be able to receive a short message service in this scenario.
Aiming at the problem in the related art, no effective solution has been proposed yet.